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It is a creaky old venue with an arched ceiling and history oozing from every balcony seat. Long before any of the current wrestlers and most of their parents were born, the Wilkes-Barre landmark hosted the state's best wrestlers.

The District 2 Dual Meet and Individual Championships are coming to the Kingston Armory next month, and by all accounts, these will be the venue's first high school wrestling events since 1948.

In 1947 and 1948, the Kingston Armory, then known as the West Side Armory, hosted the PIAA Championships. One District 2 wrestler won gold during that two-year stretch: Meyers' Bill Fillistine, the 138-pound champion in 1948.

Bill Fillistine passed away in 2011 in Wickliffe, Ohio, where he lived for 55 years and worked as a truck mechanic before retiring in 1992. Fillistine's triumph at the Armory, in front of his hometown fans, was one of a kind.

For memories of Fillistine and the 1948 state tournament, I turned to his brother, Joe Fillistine, owner and operator of Donahue's Hourglass Lounge in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

Bill Fillistine's parents, Ann Rose and Joe, were Italian immigrants who entered the country at Ellis Island, Ann Rose in 1903 and Joe in 1909. They got married and settled in Wilkes-Barre; Bill was the eighth of their 11 children.

The family lived at 275 Carey Ave., a stone's throw from Meyers, and Bill started wrestling in ninth grade under the guidance of coach John Nagle.

"He was a takedown specialist," Joe Fillistine said. "He used to pin a lot of guys."

Fillistine's first trip to states came as a senior in 1948, an era when only district champions advanced to the big stage. There were 11 weight classes ranging from 95-185 pounds, and while District 2 had elite programs like Kingston and Forty Fort, Meyers had not yet developed into a Pennsylvania powerhouse.

There were nine wrestlers in Fillistine's bracket. He pinned Bethlelem's Wilson Kline in the quarterfinals and 1947 runner-up Pete Polachek of Boswell in the semifinals.

Fillistine drew Lansdowne's Paul Troiano in the championship match. Joe, 11 or 12 at the time, recalled being the only one from his family in attendance.

"(My parents) didn't go to any of those things," Joe Fillistine said. "They were working."

He said the stands were packed that afternoon, and rather than sit in the balcony, he made his way to the standing-room only section of the floor. He stood on his tippy toes in a failed attempt to see over rows of people.

According to the March 14 edition of the Sunday Independent: "Filistine (sic) started early with a takedown, followed by Traigno's (sic) neutral. Filistine (sic) repeated with another takedown to gain a 4 to 1 advantage at the end of the first period."

Fillistine led 8-4 after two periods, and true to his nature, wanted to end things early.

"My brother said, 'I can pin him,'" Joe Fillistine said. "Then he listened to (Nagle). If he tried for the pin, he could've gotten caught. Who knows?"

Wrote the Sunday Independent: "In the final period Filistine (sic) started on the bottom and remained there for the rest of the period. A two-point time advantage gave Filistine (sic) a 10 to 4 triumph."

Fillistine's victory was a history-making one, as he became the first Mohawk to win a state title. Meyers eventually became the district's most storied program with 13 individual state champions.

Fillistine joined the Air Force after graduation, where he spent four years stationed in Alaska and Washington, D.C. He moved to Wickliffe with his wife, Elizabeth, and had five children and 13 grandchildren.

Wrestling has grown leaps and bounds since Fillistine's title. The Giant Center in Hershey houses the PIAA Championships these days and is packed with spectators and media. Division I athletes are a dime-a-dozen in Hershey, and for most of them, wrestling is a year-round lifestyle.

But it's the old guard that paved the way for the new school. And with wrestling returning to the grand old Kingston Armory, now is the time to remember and celebrate Bill Fillistine.

The Fantastic Five

Evan Korn, high school wrestling beat writer for The Citizens' Voice, ranks the best wrestlers in the WVC, regardless of weight.

1. Austin Harry, Lake-Lehman, 132, 29-0: Harry moved made his 132-pound debut this week, pinning West Scranton's Yahnzy Ortiz in 3:21. At 138, he scored a technical fall over Wyoming Area's Charlie Johnson. His No. 1 ranking has never been more secure.

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